Pressing machine



July 29, 1930.l `A H ADAMS 1,771,476

PRESSING MACHINE Filed Feb. 29, 1928 Patented July 29, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ARTHUR ADAMS, OF LA GRANGE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB TO TROY LAUNDRY HA- CHINERY COMPANY, INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION F DELAWARE PRESSING MACHINE v Application mea February 29, 192s, serial No. 257.897. i

This invention relates to pressing machines, especially to machines for pressing or ironing garments and the like.

An object of the invention is the provision of a ress the jaws of which initially close quickly under light pressure and upon encountering a certain predetermined reslstance, close finally under relatively heavy presupon the encountering of certain predeter-` mined resistance are finally closed firmly 4upon the work by the high pressure means.

Another object is the provision of safety means for preventing the application of heavy pressure to the jaws of the press except lwhen the said jaws are nearly closed.

A further object is to provide a pressing machine having initial and final closing means for the jaws thereof, and means for preventing retrograde movement of the jaws after operation of the initial closing means..

These and other objects and advantages of the invention and the manner of obtaining vthem will be made clear in the following dee scription and accompanying drawings.

lin the drawings Fig. 1 shows in elevation a'laundry pressing machine constructed in accordance with l:my invention.

liig. 2 shows a detailed view partly in section ot a portion of the power mechanism of the press shown in Fi l il. `Fig. 3 is a vertice? sectional viewot the.

te large power cylinder of the" machine shown' in Fig. l;

Fig. t vis a fragmentary View of thewtwohand control mechanism for operating the prese.

valve for admitting air to the large cylinder of the press. l; Y

Referring more particularly to the press,

- reference numeral l indicates a pressing machine tablehaving a bearing arm 2-for piv- 'cylinder is pivotally su Fig. 5,*,is a detailed view of the automatic member in otally supporting a lever?, which has attached to one end a head 4 'and to the other end a power mechanism 5. Table 1 has supported thereon a buck 6 which, cooperates wlth the pressing head 4', and carries attached to its ront edge a Vvalve mechanism 7 by means of which the operation of the press is controlled. For keeping the lever arm 3 in a tilted position tension spring 67 is provided. The power mechanism 5 comprises a link 8 pivotally attached at its upper `end to the lever arm 3 and pivotally attached at its lower end 9 to a piston 10 working within a cylinder 11. Cylinder 11 has 'an enlarged housin portion 12 at the lower end thereof, whic has secured thereto a bearing member 13 for connecting with a toggle arrangement 14. Thistoggle arrangement consists of a link 15 and a ink 16 whichare pivotally connected together, and to a piston rod 18 at 17 The lower end of link 16 is pivotally supported by a bearing 19 'attached to a base plate 20. The piston rod 18 attaches," as best shown in Fi 3, to a piston 21 working within a large cyl inder 22 pivotally sup orted at 23 to a-Stand-- ard 24 attached to t e base, plate 20. A ttached to the lower end 9 of the link 8 is one end of a lever arm 25,`the other end of which connectsy at 26 to a tension spring 27.. The other end of tension sprin 27 is connected to. the u per end of the stan ard 24. Pivotally attac ed to an intermediate point in the lever arm 25 is a piston rod 28 which carries a piston workin g within a small cylinder 29, which ported by a bearing member 30 mounted on t e base plate 20. For keeping the cylinder 11 in its pro yr working posltion a reach rod 3l vis pivota y interconnected between the bearing member 13 and an intermediate point on the standard 2,4.' Y I f Within the housing 12 of the cylinder 11 is positioned a guide member 32 working within,.-

a guide 33. Attached to the guide member' 32 is a push rodorfprojection 34 which, in the'/ upwar osition o the guide member 32, contacts wit a ball valve35 and pushes the same from its stat/,36. For thrusting the guide an lupward osition vthe compression `spring 37 is Aprovlded. Positioned in. another chamber in the housing 12 is"an. loo

expansible member 38, which may be in the form of metal bellows, as shown, or if desirable might be in the form of a cylinder and piston. Attached to the upper end of the/expansible member 38 is a push rod 39 which cooperates with a rocker arm 40 pivotally supported at 41 by the housin 12. The lefthand end of rocker arm 41 is orked at 42 so as to it around the push rod 34. If the guide member 32 lits very closely insideI of the guide 33 it may be necessary to provide perforations in order to permit iluid to pass up by the guide member when the same is pushed down by the action of rocker arm 40, as will be explained more fully hereinafter. Mounted beside the cylinder 11 is a reservoir 44 which is interconnected by a nipple 45 with the housing 12 of the cylinder 11. lVithin the reservoir 44 is a quantity of suitable liquid 46 such as oil, Water, glycerine, or the like. This liquid dueto the nipple connection 45 viills also the hollow portions of the housing 12. The large cylinder 22 is provided with a housing 47 containing an expansible member 48, rocker arm 49, guide member 50 and spring 51, similarly tohousing 12. Attached to the guide member 50 is a projection 52 which contacts when the guide member is in an upward position, with a ball valve 53 and lifts the same from its seat 54. The guide member 50 is provided with perforations similarly to the guide member 32 and the housing 47 is provided with perforations 55 and 56 for' permitting passage of fluid therethrough. The piston rod 18 works within a guide 57 attached to the end of the cylinder, which is also erforated, as shown at 58, in order to permit air to beforced out of the cylinder upon movement of the piston 21. For the operation of the press a series of pipes for conducting fluid under pressure, such as compressed air, to the various working parts of the press, is provided. This series of pipes consists of a pipe line 59 leading from a source of compressed air or other fluid 60, to a two-hand control valve 61, which valve is connected by a pipe 62 leading to a T connection 63 joined to a pipe 64 leading to the small cylinder 29. At the point of connection between the pipe 64 and the cylinder 29 a portion of flexible hose-65 may be provided, in which case the pipe 64 can be of rigid material. Connected between the pipe 64 and the expansible member 38 in the housing 12, is a flexible hose 85. At 66 a tap is made in the pipe line 64, which leads to the expansible member 48 within the housing 47. Also joined to the T connection 63 is a pipe 68 leading to an automatic valve 69. The valve 69 is connected by a pipe70 to a second valve 71 in series therewith, which valve is connected by another pipe 72 with the cylinder 22. Valve 69 is provided wth a lever arm 73 for gperating the same, this arm being held in a given position by means of a snapby sp ring 7 4 and being rocked in one direction through contact with the end of the lever arm 25 and in the return direction by means of a finger 75 attached to the lever arm 25, The valve 71 has a lever arm 76 and spring 77 similarly to the valve 69, the lever arm 76 being moved in an upward direction by a projection 78 attached to the link l8 and moved in a return direction by projection 79 attached to the link 8.

The control valve 61 may be of the twoposition type such as illustrated in Fig. 4 and have-three ports, an inlet port 81, an outlet port 80 and an exhaust port 82. For the operation of the valve a lever arm 83 is provided, to which is attached a link 84 manually operable through suitable mechanism. The operating mechanism of valve 61 may be of \the type disclosed in the copeiiding application of Edward D. Phinney, filed on even date herewith, and hence further detailed descriptionthereof is believed to be unnecessary. For limiting the upward movement of the right-hand end of the lever arm 25, which works in a slot in a table 1, a stop 86 is attached to the table.

The operation of the press is as follows:

lVhen the press is in the open position as shown in Fig. 1 and it is desired to close the same, the control mechanism of valve 61 is operated, rocking the lever arm 83 in an upward direct-ion and opening the valve 61 so that compressed air flows from the tank 60 through the pipe 59, inlet port 81,'outlet port 80, pipe 62, pipe 64 and into the small cylinder 29, causing the piston therein to push the piston rod 28 in an upward direction carrying with it the left-hand end of the lever arm 25, the right liand end of which is held in normal position by the tension spring 27. As the lever arm 25 moves upward, it carries with it the piston 10 of the cylinder 11. As the piston 10 moves out of the cylinder 11 fluid 46 is sucked from the reservoir 44 through the nipple 45 up past the ball valve 35 into the cylinder. This procedure continues until the head 4 strikes the buck 6, when, due to the increased resistance the left-hand end of the lever arm 25 can no longer rise. Th'e left-hand end of the lever arm 25 now being stationary and the piston 28 continuing to rise in the cylinder 29. the tension spring 27 is stretched, thus permitting the right-hand end of the lever arm 25 to move in an upward direction. Upon this upward movement the lever arm strikes against the lever arm 73 of the valve 69, pushing the same in an upwardy direction. As soon as this lever arm 73 has been pushed but slightly the snap-by spring 74 passes by center and snaps the lever arm 73 still further in an upward direction, thereby opening. the ports in the valve and permitting compressed air to flow from the pipe 62 and '68 through the valve 69 and pipe 70 tothe open the valve 71 under the action of the snap-by spring 77. This valve 71 is therefore now open and the compressed air passes through the valve from the pipe 70 and through the pipe 72 to the largecylinder 22. VThe ball valve 53 in the housing 47 attached to the cylinder 22. when no pressure is applied tothe eXpansible member 48 from the pipe line 64 would be held in an open position by the spring 51. However, when pressure is in the pipe. 64, as it now is, the member 48 will be expanded in an upward direction rocking the rocker arm 49 around its pivot and compressing the spring 51-,lthus permitting the ball valve 53 to drop on its seat 54. This valve is therefore now closed and the air entering the cylinder from the pipe 72 acts on the piston 21 forcing it in a lefthand direction. This movement of the piston 21 is transmitted through the piston rod 18 to the toggle 14, which straightens out and forces the head 4 tightly 'down ontothe buck 6. The force of the piston 21 is transmitted through the rod 18 and toggle link 14 to the link 8 and rocker arm 3 through the liquid in the cylinder 11, which is not compressible. As pressure is now being applied to the pipe -line 64 and hence to the tube 85, lthe member 38 is expanded in an upward di-rection, thus rocking vthe rocker armaround its pivot point 41 and compressing the spring 37, permitting the ball valve to, drop on lto its seat 36 without restraintfrom .the projection 34. As the ball valves 35 and 53 off their seats. As soonthe pipe 62,

projection 34 was retracted the ball valve 3,5 was free to drop on to its seat 36 when the liquid ceased Ato flow `from 'the reservoir 46 into thecylinder 1, which occurred as soonl as the left-handv end of the lever arm 25 ceased to rise. The ball valve 35 now being in -closed position, pressure is transmitted .through the toggle to the cylinder 11 and from they cylinder `r11 through Ithe liquidwithin the cylinder to the piston 10, thence through link 8 to the lever 3.

,When it isl desired to open the press it is necessary merely to movevthe lever arm 83 of the valve 61 in a downward direction, `thus shutting off the intake mitting air to pass from the pipe 64 through port 80, .through the valve and out of the exhaust port 82. As soon as this movement of the valve occurs air rushes out of all of the various pipes permitting the expansible members 38 and 48. to collapse and the springs 37 and 51, through the action of the projection 34 and 52, to thrust the as the valve 35 is open liquid in the cylinder 11 is forced out by the piston 10Uunder the ,v action of the press openingA spring. 67, ba'ck port 81 and per-.

link 8 moves in a downward direction, causing the projection 79 to strike against the lever arm 76, and snap the valve 71'to its closed position. The iston ,28 moves downwardly within thecylinder 29 under the action of the closingl spring 67 and the sprin 27, forcing air out of the cylinder 29 throug the pipes 64 and 62 and valve ports 80 and 82. Upon the downward movement of the right-hand end of the lever arm 2,5, the

finger 75 engages the end of the lever arm 73 and snaps the valve 69 to its closed position. f o c The ress is now in its initial position and ready or-another cycle of operation.

It will be seen that by the particular interconnection of piston rod 28 with the lever'3 through the lever arm 25 and the sprin 27, I have provided an arran ement w ich causes high pressure to be applied to the head only when the head meets with a certain'resistance. The feature is of importance as it insures that heavy ressure shall not bey applied to the head before it is fully seated on the buck. Where thel heavy pressure is applied when the head reaches a given angular position, regardless of whether it has .struck the buck or not, uniform results with different thicknesses of' goods are not always obtained. With a` press constructed in accordance with my invention heavy fessure is applied to the head only when t e head meets with resistance` due to striking goods on the buck, hence greater economy of operation of the press is insured, as the move ment of the piston in the large cylinder can be made relatively small, thusconsuming a ver arm 25 acts asa sort of ,dynamometen/ When this resistance is encountered air is admitted to th'e large cylinder and heavyV pressure applied to the jaws of the press. t will be obvious that in order to select the degree of Apressure at which' operation of the large cylinder is initiated, it is neceary merely to adjust the tension of the spring 27. This adjustment might be accomplished ip any suitable manner, for' example, by means of a screw threaded arrangement, as shown 1n Fig. 1.

In operating the condition it would probably be desirable in g mo'st casesto utilizetl'i'e small closing cylinLA press under any given f lao A' lll der 29 to the greatest degree possible, in which case the spring 27 should be made of such strength that it can be stretched by the cylinder acting through lever arm 25 just sufliciently to operate the valve 69 and let air in the large power cylinder.

As when the dynamometer-like arrangement such as I have shown is used, heavy pressure is applied to the head when the resistance is encountered, some safety feature is desirable, in order to insure that .the heavy pressure will not be applied to the head when the head is too far away from the buck. That is to say, some safety feature is desirable in order to prevent the press from injuring the operator should he accidently get his' arm between the head and the buck when the press is'closing. This safety feature I have shown embodied in the valve 71. being open until the head reaches a position fairly close to the buck, no air can reach the high pressure cylinder until that position is reached, and hence it is impossible when the press is not suliciently closed, to apply heavy pressure, regardless of the position of the pressure responsive valve 69. This valve 71 should be made to operate only when the head is near enough to the buck for pressing operations and too near to endanger the person of the operator.

While I have disclosed a spring for determining the amount of resistance which causes heavy pressure to be ap lied to the press, it will be obvious that welghts might be used as well, in which case the weights might be placed on the lever arm 25 and moved to a suitable position to cause the press to be operated in the desired manner.

The lever arm 25 acts to amplify the movement of the piston rod 28 to a suitable degree for operating the valve 69. The point of connection between the piston rod and the lever arm may therefore be selected to give the desired result.

I find it desirable to use snap-by springs on the valves 69 and 71 in order to secure quick action. However, these springs are not absolutely necessary as the valves might be of the ordinary spring closed type. If ordinary valvesA should be used they would v open relatively slowly .under the action of the press but the operation of the press would be exactly the same.

The dynamometer feature of my invention is not necessarily limited to use with a Vfluid. pressure loperated'press as it is applicable to presses using other types of power means as well. In other types of presses the movement of the spring retained end of the dynamometer lever arm could be used to put in operation other kinds of heavy pressure applying means.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the invention is capable of a wide variety of modifications and adaptations and This valve not that the present disclosure is intended merely to illustrate its nature without limiting its scope, which is defined in the claims.

WhatI claim is:

1. In a pressing machine, a pair of pressing jaws, means for closing the said jaws, sepa` rately actuated means for giving `the jaws a final heavy'squeeze, means responsive to the lencountering byvsvaid jaws, of a certain predetermined resistance. for operating said mea-ns second mentioned, and means for rendering the second mentioned means inelective until said jaws are moved into pressing relation.

2. In a pressing machine, a pair of pressing jaws, low pressure means for closing said jaws, high pressure means for giving the jaws a final squeeze and means res onsive to the encountering, by said jaws, o a certain resistance, for initiating the operation of said high pressure means, and means for renderingthe high pressure means ineiective until said jaws are in pressing relation.

3. In a'pressing machine, a pair of pressing jaws, a power source for closing said jaws, means responsive to the encountering of resistance by said jaws for causing said power source to apply heavy pressure to said jaws, and means for preventing the application of heavy pressure until said jaws are in pressing relation.

4. In a pressing machine, a pair of pressing jaws, power means for closing the said jaws, and means for varying the pressure applied hy said power means in accordance with the pressure encountered bythe said jaws, the first mentioned means including separately actuated high pressure and low pressure mechanisms.

i v5. A pressing machine according to claim 4 wherein means is provided for preventing the application of heavy pressure to the jaws of the press until the said jaws approach a predetermined spacing.

6. In a pressing machine, a pair of pressing jaws, a low pressure means for closing vsaid jaws, a high pressure means for applying heavy pressure to said jaws, means for preventing actuation of said high pressure means until said jaws approach a pressing osition, and means for automatically switchlng from the low pressure to the high pressure means.

7. In a pressing machine, a head and a cooperating buck, said head being secured to one end of a pivoted lever arm having a free end, a second lever arm connected at one end to the free end of said first mentioned lever arm,

a tension spring connected to the other end of said second lever arm and to a fixed point, a small luid'operated cylinder means connected to an intermediate point of said second lever arm for moving the head toward the buck, a large fluid operated cylinder, an expansible locking means interconnected between said large cylinder and said first mentioned lever arm and means for supplying Huid under pressure to said cylinders.

8. A pressing machine according to claim 7 wherein the second mentioned lever arm cooperates with a valve. for controlling the lowof fluid to said large cylinder.

9. In a pressing machine a-irst pivoted -lever arm, said lever arm having a pressing head connected to one end thereof, a second lever arm, said second'lever arm having one end connected with the free end of the first mentionedv lever arm and having its other end connected to a tensioning means, a small fluid pressure operated cylinder pivotally interconnected with an intermediate point of" said second lever arm, a toggle interconnected between a Xed point and an eXpansilble locking means, the other end of said lock,-

ing means being connected to the end ofsai'd second mentioned lever connected to the first mentioned lever, a large fluid pressure operated cylinder operab y interconnected to the midpoint of the said toggle, and means for .supplying fluid underpressure to said l large and said small fluid'operated cylinders.

' `means connected to the other end o 10. A pressing machine according to claim 9 wherein the expansible locking means comprises a hydraulic cylinder.

11. In a pressing machine, aV pivotally mounted lever arm, a pressing head connected to one end of said lever arm and a ower said lever arm, said power means comprising a small fluid pressure operated cylinder' conf nected `to said leverA arm and a large fluid j pressure operated cylinder, said large cylin- I a-pressing head connected to one end of said lever arm, a second lever arm, a low power A means. connected to lan intermediate polnton said second lever arm, one end of said second lever arm being connected to the free end of said first lever arm and the other endof said second lever arm being connected to a tension spring, a high power means interconnected with said irst lever arm and means responsive to movement of the spring retained end of the second lever arm for operating the said high power means.

14. In a pressing machine, a power mechanism comprising a lever arm, a high power cylinder connected to one end of said lever arm, a tension spring to the other end of said lever arm and a low power cylinder to the intermedi'ate point of said arm, a pipe for confluid operated 'cyl1nder,

'valves interconnected in the line leadin ducting fluid to said low power cylinder and a second pipe line for connecting liuid to said high power cylinder. a valve in said second pipe line adapted to be opened by movementl of the spring retained end of said lever arm.

15. In a pressing machine an expansible locking means comprising a cylinder, a piston for said cylinder, a fluid reservoir sub'ect to a constant pressure, a iuid connection etween said reservoir and said cylinder and a check valve for preventing flow of fluid from said cylinder to said reservoir. l l 16. In a pressing machine an expansible locking means accordingto claim 15 wherein means is provided for opening the check valve, y

said means comprising a spring for opening the valve and an expansible fluid pressure o erated device for opposing said s rin p17. In a laundry pressing machiiie, aghigh power cylinder and a 10W power cylinder, a ever arm, means 4for interconnectingk said cyl inderswith said lever arm, supply pipes for conducting fluid to said cylinders, a valve for controlling iow of fluid to both of the cylinders and two valves in the pipe line leadin to said high power cylinder, one of said vavesV being operated responsive to the moving of said lever arm to a certain position and the other of said valves being operated in response to the encountering by said lever arm of acertain resistancel 18. In a pressing machine a pressing arm,l a

interconnectedbetween said cylinder and said pressing arm, a check valve in said locking means and a vent valve in said cylinder, means for supplying fluid underpressure to said cylinder and means responsive to a decrease in said pressure below a certain value for opening both of the aforementioned valves.

19. In a pressing machine a lowlpressure' cylinder, a lever arm having an intermediate point connected with said cylinder, a high a fluid locking means pressure cylinder, pipe lines for supplyingv Huid under pressure to said cylinders, two

being held in a normal position by means of' .120

20. In a pressing machine a head and a.

a tension spring.

buck, means for moving the head toward the buck and means, for squeezing "the head against the buck, means responsive to the encountering of resistance to movement of the head toward the buck for operating said 'ilo to ucv means for squeezing the head against the buck and means for preventing the operation of said means for squeezing the head against Vthe sure to said jaws through the last mentioned f means.

nuck except when the head has reached a pressing position adjacent the said buck.

21. In a laundry pressing machine, a pair of pressing jaws, means for closing the jaws, hydraulic means for lockingr the jaws in closed position, and means for applying heavy pres- 22. In a laundry pressing machine, a pair of pressing jaws, pneumatic means for closing the jaws, hydraulic means for locking the jaws in closed relation, and means for applying heavy pressure to the jaws.

23. In a laundry pressing machine, a pair of pressing jaws, means for closing the jaws, hy raulic means for preventing retrograde movement of the jaws in closed relation, and means for applying heavy pressure to the jaws.

24. In a pressing machine, a movable pressing arm, a small cylinder and a large cylinder interconnected with said arm, luid supply pipe lines for said cylinders, a quick operating valve in the pipe line of the large cylinder, and means responsive to the encountering of a certain resistance to movement, by said arm, for actuating said valve.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification this 28th day of v February, 1928. v ARTHUR H. ADAMS.

y Y, j QlsoLAlMszR' 1,771,476fr-Arthur H. Grange,

I July 2-9, 1930. Disclaimer filed Apr1l^21, 1933,A by the assignee, Machinery Company, Imc. L `f the following words, to Witt 21. In a laundry i awe, hydraulic means for eavy pressure to said jaws through the last mentioned means.

23. In a laundry pressing machine, a pair of pressing jaws", means `for clos A the jaws, hydraulic means for preventing retrograde' movementy of the jaws 1n c os relation, and means for applying heavyjpressuro m the j-Wgjg [O fc'll Gaetfe May 16,193.3.1 y

- Heeby enters this disclaimer to claims land 23,fin-slmid specification which are in pressing machine, `va pair of j'awsfmeans lfor closing i locking lthe jaws in closed `position', and means for app 

